This would seem easy to grasp considering it is in the very description of the things.
But leave it to humankind to miss the point, and to ignore the purpose and benefits of a thing,
fixate on something arbitrary like collectability and to utterly suck the joy out of something.
Hello.
Today we talk about a problem that affects a major portion of comic book consumers.
Most of which can be summarized by these oft heard utterances:
"They're gonna' be worth something..."
"I don't let my kids read them"
"I'm saving them for...."
"they're still in the plastic"
I don't wish to discourage someone's joy or hobby it avoids the crucial points that:
comics being the descendant of both the comic strip and the pulp magazine, they were always intended to be read.
But somewhere along the line at the end of the 70's ..
then came the comics specialty stores,
and along with them came plastic bags, PVC, mylar, lucite...preserved for future generations.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
the old ones are valued/valuable because everyone threw them away,
the new ones are all protected and will ensure that the appreciation of value doesn't happen
this comes the CGC company and their offspring...
offering "Premium Grading Services" and ironclad returns on your investments
and suddenly $3 books out this week are slabbed and restickered at $100 bucks.
it's a false market based on speculation
and with my own eyes i have seen flawed and suspect grading,
even some things that could be considered as dishonest.
as someone who has graded books and worked in comic shops for a good part of 20 years i find it offensive that these services are regarded as authoritative.
no one at Chapters/Indigo/Borders gets harangued daily with questions about prospective long term resale value or even fields questions about whether or not a book is 1st print.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
the value is in the reading. literacy is still a concern in this world
and there are progressively less people who are properly literate.....
as the world shifts more and more to videos...Youtube and if they're lucky a TedTalk or two..
we need books in hands. it has to start with kids... conditioning them to enjoy and desire the experience of reading, the mental discipline and experience of assembling the information within without it being diluted and spoonfed thru Newsfeeds, RSS, GIFs and vid clips.
READ COMICS!
books need to be in our hands, our backpacks and pockets.
they need to be on our shelves and nightstands.
COMICS ARE BOOKS!
American comics have come a long way to catch up with Europe and Japan in terms of quality and to effectively quarantine them, keep them out of readers hands
READ COMICS!
perhaps the tide is a turning....
just today we gave a talk at a local school about graphic novels and comics that coincides with their Graphic Novel Week and Book Sale. I was truly enthused by the excitement and energy these kids have for the stuff. they asked lotsa questions, took down shopping list notes, thumbed thru the books and beckoned each other back and forth to scope out one book or another,
And not one of them asked how much it would be worth in 5 Years,
Ah......satisfaction.
READ COMICS!
Monday, May 30, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
Off the ledge.
Karen Berger joins Image!
whoa! this should be the biggest news in comics, with the upstarts further eroding the foundation of the Pillars of Industry, DC.
But then....BAM!...
Shelly Bond fired?!?
DC has turfed Vertigo's long time editor and current head of things, Shelly Bond has been let go in what is stated as a restructuring, the reasons being mainly that VERTIGO sales are poor.
The internet contingents lose their minds about this as is expected and many veer off into ugly territory centering around scumbag DC editor Eddie Berganza. This relates only in that it points out the disconnect from reality that DC's co-publishers and Super-Buddies, Jim Lee and Dan DiDio(t) operate under.
VERTIGO was the brainchild of Karen Berger, which was the front line of progressive comics in the American market since its inception. Shelly Bond was there from the beginning, side by side with Karen Berger building and crafting Vertigo into the industry leader it was, Always maintaining a solid core of ongoing titles (many creator owned,which is highly relevant) and publishing some of the most unique and beautifully crafted mini-series and OGNs in comics' history.
Vertigo has been going to pot since the New52 . Not suprisingly Berger left her post soon after DC did their big revamp, which in specific to this took the two central characters to the line and dumped them back into the regular superhero line.
The loss of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer, along with the recent conclusion of Fables are devastating enough, removing from the shelves a constant presence. the back pages of each core book also carried invaluable house ads for all the various projects Vertigo produced. On The Ledge was the editorial page that also gave voice to the creators and the other folk making things happen for the imprint,
There has a visible and traumatic creativity drain from the company in these recent times because after years of producing and encouraging independent and creator owned titles the Publishers decided that they would no longer do so unless the creators ceded the rights to multimedia (read: movie making) productions to DC. Image Comics on the other hand gave creators free reign to do what they please with their creations and even gave fewer/no restrictions on content.
In previous years creators/titles that were accepted were given a worry free 5yrs to tell their story without interference or fear of cancellation . Now titles get the axe if they haven't sold well in the first 5 issues! The publishers apparently think that the panic and reset tactics ( to less and less success)that they employ on the superhero line is a sound strategy for all it's line,
There never would have been a Sandman or Preacher or Transmetropolitan if this "strategy" was wielded by Berger and Bond through out the previous 2 decades.
Ultimately Bond has been let go for reasons mostly out of her control and which don't address the massive amounts of TPB/GN sales tied to her Editorial stint. This move, never mind the optics is a bad one and it considerably weakens an already staggered line. Just this week DC announced the launch of another line ( headed by rocker and occasional comic writer,Gerard Way called Young Animal) apparently "in the spirit of old Vertigo"while disposing of a talent who has been there for it all.
Recently I have been critical of some of the direction from Vertigo, even wondering whether or not it would be around much longer.But I have been pleasantly surprised by many of the titles and each of the current books offers something unique and new even if it isn't to my tastes, They have continued to push forward and to challenge readers and while I believe the remaining talents at the imprint will continue to do the best that their considerable talents will afford but the repeated tampering and over-management from above will be the death of this thing.
So, say goodbye to Vertigo....it just fell off the ledge.
whoa! this should be the biggest news in comics, with the upstarts further eroding the foundation of the Pillars of Industry, DC.
But then....BAM!...
Shelly Bond fired?!?
DC has turfed Vertigo's long time editor and current head of things, Shelly Bond has been let go in what is stated as a restructuring, the reasons being mainly that VERTIGO sales are poor.
The internet contingents lose their minds about this as is expected and many veer off into ugly territory centering around scumbag DC editor Eddie Berganza. This relates only in that it points out the disconnect from reality that DC's co-publishers and Super-Buddies, Jim Lee and Dan DiDio(t) operate under.
VERTIGO was the brainchild of Karen Berger, which was the front line of progressive comics in the American market since its inception. Shelly Bond was there from the beginning, side by side with Karen Berger building and crafting Vertigo into the industry leader it was, Always maintaining a solid core of ongoing titles (many creator owned,which is highly relevant) and publishing some of the most unique and beautifully crafted mini-series and OGNs in comics' history.
Vertigo has been going to pot since the New52 . Not suprisingly Berger left her post soon after DC did their big revamp, which in specific to this took the two central characters to the line and dumped them back into the regular superhero line.
The loss of Swamp Thing and Hellblazer, along with the recent conclusion of Fables are devastating enough, removing from the shelves a constant presence. the back pages of each core book also carried invaluable house ads for all the various projects Vertigo produced. On The Ledge was the editorial page that also gave voice to the creators and the other folk making things happen for the imprint,
There has a visible and traumatic creativity drain from the company in these recent times because after years of producing and encouraging independent and creator owned titles the Publishers decided that they would no longer do so unless the creators ceded the rights to multimedia (read: movie making) productions to DC. Image Comics on the other hand gave creators free reign to do what they please with their creations and even gave fewer/no restrictions on content.
In previous years creators/titles that were accepted were given a worry free 5yrs to tell their story without interference or fear of cancellation . Now titles get the axe if they haven't sold well in the first 5 issues! The publishers apparently think that the panic and reset tactics ( to less and less success)that they employ on the superhero line is a sound strategy for all it's line,
There never would have been a Sandman or Preacher or Transmetropolitan if this "strategy" was wielded by Berger and Bond through out the previous 2 decades.
Ultimately Bond has been let go for reasons mostly out of her control and which don't address the massive amounts of TPB/GN sales tied to her Editorial stint. This move, never mind the optics is a bad one and it considerably weakens an already staggered line. Just this week DC announced the launch of another line ( headed by rocker and occasional comic writer,Gerard Way called Young Animal) apparently "in the spirit of old Vertigo"while disposing of a talent who has been there for it all.
Recently I have been critical of some of the direction from Vertigo, even wondering whether or not it would be around much longer.But I have been pleasantly surprised by many of the titles and each of the current books offers something unique and new even if it isn't to my tastes, They have continued to push forward and to challenge readers and while I believe the remaining talents at the imprint will continue to do the best that their considerable talents will afford but the repeated tampering and over-management from above will be the death of this thing.
So, say goodbye to Vertigo....it just fell off the ledge.
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